Society & Lifestyle >
Personal Morals & Values
Get a Widget for this title
RSS FeedIs it okay to steal if you're desperate?
Results so far:
| Yes | 30% | 7 votes | Total: 23 votes | |
| No | 70% | 16 votes |
Yes
Write now
Print
Invite a writer™
Add to FavoritesScenerio: You have lost your job, behind in all your payments, and have a family to feed. As you drive behind a bread truck, there is an accident, the packaged bread spills out over the road. Your kids are hungry, are you going to take a few loaves? I think most of us would. Is this stealing or survival?
Technically, you are stealing, correct? But the punishment for stealing a few loaves of bread doesn't outweigh the desperation of feeding your family. So is it okay to take the bread? I believe it is.
I am not advocating theft as a career, but this is a case of desperation. When someone is well off financially, and is stealing from their company, or pulling a Bernie Madoff, that is going overboard. But in select cases of desperation, sometimes you "gotta do what you gotta do".
People have been stealing since cavemen stole from their neighbors caves, but that doesn't make it right. This is just part of human nature. In the animal world, some creatures steal for a living. Take a look at the hyenas in Africa. They steal from the lion's kill all the time. Whatever the lion doesn't eat, the pack of hyenas move in. That is how they survive, and they do survive quite well. This is their way, and if you look closely enough, whatever they leave the predator birds move in until there is nothing left. You could look at it like nature's way of keeping a clean environment.
So the key word here is desperation. Stealing if you are desperate is an act of survival, nothing more. Either eat or starve, and most of us would chose the former, not the latter. It is a painful death to starve, and morals are the last thing on your mind if you are hungry. Is stealing the correct word here?
It all comes down to a question of survival. Would you steal clothing if the weather was bad enough, or would you freeze to death? Freezing isn't a nice way to die either, so show me the clothes rack! Remember, we are talking about survival, not calculated, white-collar crime here.
Desperation has driven man to do all sorts of "morally unacceptable" things. But man has survived all these years, and the odds are man will continue to exist on this earth not matter what the morally acceptable rules say.....
Learn more about this author, Anthony Megna.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
No
Stealing is wrong. No matter what the situation may be, its wrong. It doesn't matter how you look at it even in a worst case scenario its wrong. By God it's wrong and by law its wrong, and that's all there is to it.
I've always had wonderful loving caring family and friends I could turn to whenever I needed anything. Help with homework, a ride to or from work. There was always someone there I could call. Why should it be any different for anyone else? No matter how hard times get or how desparate you are for cash or whatever it is that you may be needing you should always have somebody there in your corner right?
Think about it. Single parent, family of 3. You've just recently lost your job, the bills are due, the fridge is empty. You've got the 3 hungry kids and yourself to feed. What do you do? Rob a bank? Pay your bills and buy groceries. Or you could hold a cashier at Kroger hostage and let your oldest get all the things off your grocery list. There's a small, minuscule chance that you'll get away with either of the two so what are you gonna do now? Sin in the eyes of God, hope you don't get caught and commit a smaller crime that may be easier for you to get away with? Sure you will if you lack a conscience and you're stupid enough to go through with it with out thinking about the example you would be setting for kids, and what would happen to you and who would take care of them if you were to get caught. What happens though if you actually do get caught? You get thrown in jail and you're labeled an unfit parent, and you'll probably never see your kids again. Honestly is it even worth it?
There are other ways to go about getting what would be needed to make ends meet for you and your family until times got better. Instead of stealing you could call a family member or someone close to you and ask to borrow some money. No job, unsure of when you'll be able to pay them back? There's always unemployment that you could apply for, government assistance,food stamps. Try looking for another job. Do odd jobs here and there there's always another solution.
No matter the situation is stealing is wrong. No matter your motives and whether or not its for something good its still wrong.
Learn more about this author, Robbie Love.
Click here to send this author comments or questions.
Difference of opinion? Debate now.
- Personal Morals & Values
- How should people be remembered when they die?
- Are personal morals decaying?
- If someone dropped a hundred dollar bill, would you return it to them? Yes or No
- Would you rather be adorned or adored?
- Should parents make moral judgments for their children based on their own beliefs?
- When women cry: is it a sign of weakness?
